Land case fine on MP wife

GAUTAM SARKAR IN BHAGALPUR

The court of Bhagalpur district magistrate on Thursday ordered to register a certificate case against the wife of Jamui JD(U) MP for alleged stamp duty evasion while purchasing a controversial plot in the city around eight years ago.

V. Kartikey, the district magistrate, directed the administration to seize the property of Indrani Choudhary, the wife of MP Bhudeo Choudhary, if she failed to pay the penalty. The deadline for paying the penalty would be decided in the next hearing.

The fresh orders came after Indrani did not adhere to an earlier directive to pay the penalty imposed on her for the alleged stamp duty evasion.

A case of stamp duty evasion and inadequate payment of registration fee against purchasing the disputed land was lodged against the MP and his wife in the court of then Bhagalpur district magistrate, Prem Singh Meena, on January 4 after a three-member team constituted by him to probe the issue submitted a report. He imposed a penalty of Rs 11,73,920 for stamp duty evasion on Indrani on January 21 and directed her to deposit the money within 15 days. But she did not.

A day on, Bhagalpur police registered an FIR against Choudhary, his wife Indrani and some government officials on January 22 after a local court redirected a complaint of Parmanand Sharma, the grandson of Late Sadho Mistri who owned the disputed property bought by Indrani.

The parliamentarian allegedly managed to vacate the house of Sharma on the controversial plot at Kajichak under Mojaidpur police station in the city on December 28, 2013 with the help of the accused officials and some policemen. The same night, the MP demolished the house.

Sharma in his complaint alleged that Choudhary purchased the property (five-and-a-half bighas) in 2006 from Tara Devi, the second wife (not legal) of his grandfather Sadho, by power of attorney. Sharma happens to be the grandson of Sadho and his legal wife, Daya Devi.